Sunday, January 3, 2016

The start of the new year is a great time to write your own 'bucket list'

A little over four years ago, I kicked off a
project that’s turned into one of the best and most fun things that I've ever
done.

In December 2011, I drafted a 365-item “bucket list” and
tried to accomplish as many of the items on the list as possible during the
ensuing year. I got off to a slow start in early 2012, but in mid-May 2012 I
began to make a conscious effort to scratch off at least one bucket list item a
week. By the end of the 2012 calendar year, I’d managed to scratch 42 items off
my list.

In January 2013, I expanded my “bucket list” from 365 items
to 1,000 items, and between Jan. 1, 2013 and Dec. 31, 2013, I managed to
scratch 66 items off my list, a little more than one item a week. In January
2014, I again expanded my list from 1,000 items to 1,111 items, and between
Jan. 1, 2014 and Dec. 31, 2014, I managed to mark 83 items off my list. In January
2015, I once again expanded my list from 1,111 items to 1,500 items, and during
the 2015 calendar year, I scratched off 62 of my bucket list items.

If you’re reading this and have never tried to write your
own “bucket list” you might find that writing one is harder than you would
think. As many of you will already likely know, a “bucket list” is a wish list
of things you’d like to do before you “kick the bucket.” Many of you will be
familiar with this idea thanks to the 2007 comedy, “The Bucket List,” which
starred Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman.

I’ve always kind of walked around with one of these lists in
my head, but I’d never taken the time to actually write down my list until
December 2011. Something about the act of writing these goals down makes them
seem more concrete and do-able. Setting a weekly deadline for myself in May
2012 also seemed to help me accomplish more of them and really ramped up the
project.

Before I go any further, I want to say that this project is
not about me, and I don’t do it to write about myself or to brag anything that
I’ve done. One of my main goals is to show people in the reading audience that
they can also do many of these same types of things, many of which don’t cost a
dime. I hope that my “bucket list updates” have and will continue to encouraged
others to get off the couch and do some things they’ve always wanted to do.
With a little planning and a little effort, you can do a lot of cool,
memorable stuff. I’m just a regular guy, so if I can do some of this
stuff, so can you.

How many of you out there have bucket lists of your own?
What sort of items do you have on your list? How many of your personal bucket
list items have you already accomplished? Which were your most memorable? Which
were the most difficult to accomplish? Let us know in the comments section below.

In the spirit of the start of another new year, what follows is my new and
expanded bucket list. You’ll notice that it’s in alphabetical order, which I
did on purpose to keep from duplicating entries. This year, I’ve also expanded
the list once again, moving from 1,500 items to 2,000 items. Most of the items
were on my list last year, but I also added a few more to replace those that I
scratched off the list during the past 12 months. Please feel free to “borrow”
any of them that you’d like to do.

2016 BUCKET LIST:

Adopt
a mile

Attain
the 33rd Masonic degree

Attend
a Birmingham Barons baseball game

Attend
a Cape Cod League Game in Massachusetts

Attend
a Catholic mass church service

Attend
a championship boxing match in Las Vegas.

Attend
a College World Series baseball game

Attend
a comic book convention

Attend
a fantasy baseball camp

Attend
a high school reunion

Attend
a graduation ceremony at West Point

Attend
Alabama’s “A Day” spring football game

Attend
a luau

Attend
a Major League Baseball game on Opening Day

Attend
a Major League Baseball spring training game

Attend
a Mardi Gras ball

Attend
a Native American sweat lodge ceremony

Attend
a Navajo peyote ritual

Attend
an NCAA Final Four basketball game

Attend
an NFL game at the Superdome in New Orleans

Attend
an opera performance

Attend
a Pensacola Blue Wahoos baseball game

Attend
a poetry reading

Attend
a presidential inauguration

Attend
a Renaissance Faire

Attend
a Scottish Rite Maundy Thursday ceremony

Attend
a session of the Alabama Grand Lodge

Attend
a Star Trek convention

Attend
a taping of Saturday Night Live

Attend
a World Series baseball game

Attend
BayFest in Mobile

Attend
Comic-Con International in San Diego

Attend
Flat Rock Day

Attend
Lollapalooza

Attend
Major League Baseball’s All-Star Home Run Derby

Attend
MLB Fan Fest

Attend
Oktoberfest at Redstone Arsenal

Attend
Oktoberfest in Munich, Germany

Attend
Pensacola ParaCon

Attend
Stockton Sawmill Days

Attend the AHSAA North-South All-Star Football Game

Attend
the Alabama Book Festival

Attend
the Alabama “Mr. Football” Banquet

Attend
the Alabama Renaissance Fair in Florence

Attend
the Alabama Writers Symposium

Attend
the Angola Prison Rodeo

Attend
the Annual Poarch Creek Indians Thanksgiving Powwow

Attend
the Army-Navy football game

Attend
the “Battle of Newton”

Attend
the Blessing of the Fleet in Bayou La Batre

Attend
the Boston Marathon

Attend
Burning Man

Attend
the “Capital City Classic” baseball game in Montgomery

Attend
the Cotton Patch Festival at Uriah

Attend
the Dauphin Street Beer Festival

Attend
the Daytona 500

Attend
the Fiesta Bowl

Attend
the GoDaddy Bowl in Mobile

Attend
the Great American Beer Festival in Denver, Colo.

Attend
the Great British Beer Festival in London

Attend
the Greater Gulf State Fair

Attend
the Hangout Music Festival in Gulf Shores

Attend
the Harvard-Yale football game

Attend
the H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival and CthulhuCon

Attend
the Indianapolis 500

Attend
the June 24th Masonic Day celebration in Florala

Attend
the Kentucky Derby, drink a mint julep and bet on a horse

Attend
the Little League World Series

Attend
the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade

Attend
the Major League Baseball All-Star Game

Attend
the Masters Golf Tournament in Augusta, Ga.

Attend
the Midnight Sun Baseball Classic in Alaska

Attend
the National Finals Rodeo

Attend
the NBA All-Star Game

Attend
the NCAA National Championship Football Game

Attend
the New Year’s Eve celebration in Time’s Square

Attend
the New York Marathon

Attend
the NFL Pro Bowl

Attend
the NHL All-Star Game

Attend
the Notre Dame-Michigan football game

Attend
the opening of the Iditarod in Anchorage, Alaska

Attend
the Orange Bowl

Attend
the Preakness Stakes horse race in Baltimore, Md.

Attend
the Republican National Convention

Attend
the Rocket City Brewfest in Huntsville

Attend
the Rose Bowl

Attend
the Running of the Bulls in Pamplona, Spain

Attend
the SEC Championship Football Game in Atlanta

Attend
the Stanley Cup Finals

Attend
the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Savannah, Ga.

Attend
the Sugar Bowl

Attend
the Super Bowl

Attend
the Tennessee Williams-New Orleans Literary Festival

Attend
the Tour de France

Attend
the Triple A All-Star Game

Attend
the UFO festival in Fyffe, Ala.

Attend
the Wimbledon Tennis tournament in London

Attend
the World Baseball Classic

Attend
the “World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party”

Attend
the X-Games

Attend
Williams Station Day in Atmore

Bake a
birthday cake for my wife

Bake a
loaf of bread

Bake a
rhubarb pie from scratch

Be a
game show contestant

Be an
extra in a movie

Be a
vegetarian for one month

Become
a bonded notary public

Become
a certified beer judge

Become
a certified electrician

Become
a certified/licensed bartender

Become
a certified lifeguard

Become
a certified NWS Cooperative Weather Observer

Become
a certified pilot

Become
a certified plumber

Become
a certified private investigator

Become
a certified SCUBA diver

Become
a certified UFO field investigator

Become
a certified welder

Become
a licensed barber

Become
a licensed/certified ham radio operator

Become
a lifetime member of the H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society

Become
a lifetime member of the National Geographic Society

Become
a lifetime member of the Scottish Rite

Become
a member of SABR, the Society for American Baseball Research

Become
a member of the Royal Geographical Society

Become
a member of the Smithsonian Institution

Become
a Shriner

Be
complaint-free for 30 days and earn a Complaint Free bracelet

Be
inducted into a hall of fame

Be in
the stands for a no-hitter (or perfect game)

Be
knighted by the queen

Be
present at the opening of a time capsule (or cornerstone)

Bike a
“century”

Birdwatch

Bowl a
300

Break
a Guinness World Record

Build
a boat

Build
a cabin

Build
a house of cards

Build
a model airplane

Build
a model ship

Build
and fly a kite with the kids

Build
and launch a model rocket with the kids

Build
a raft and float it down the river

Build
the kids a tree house

Buy a
good metal detector and use it

Buy a
GPS device and learn to use it

Buy
lemonade from kids at a stand

Buy
stock

Cage
dive amongst sharks

Camp
out in the backyard with the kids

Carry
the Olympic torch

Catch
a fly ball at a Major League Baseball game

Catch
a marlin

Catch
a piranha and eat it

Catch
a shark

Cave
dive

Celebrate
the Fourth of July in Washington, D.C.

Climb
an active volcano

Climb
Angels Landing in Zion National Park

Climb
Mount Everest

Climb
Mount Fuji, Japan

Climb
Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania

Climb
Mount McKinley (Denali)

Climb
Mount Rainer in Washington

Climb
the light beacon at Middleton Airfield

Climb to the top of a water tower

Compete
in the World Championship Domino Tournament in Andalusia

Complete
a food challenge at a restaurant

Complete
an obstacle course adventure endurance race

Complete
a semester at the National Outdoor Leadership School

Complete
a sprint distance triathlon

Complete
an Ironman distance triathlon

Complete
an Olympic distance triathlon

Complete
the Alabama Hunter Education Course

Complete
the Scottish Rite Master Craftsman program

Cross
the Artic Circle

Cross
the equator

Cross
the Rio Grande River

Cross
the “Rooster Bridge” in Demopolis

Cut
down my own Christmas tree

Dive
the Great Barrier Reef in Queensland, Australia

Do 10
pull-ups

Do 30
burpees in a row

Do 100
consecutive push-ups

Do a
24-hour fast

Do a
genealogy interview with my grandmother

Do
genealogy interviews with my parents

Don’t
speak a single word for an entire day

Do the
30-Day Push-Up Challenge (100 push-ups a day for 30 days)

Do The
Art of Manliness’ “30 Days to a Better Man” Challenge

Do the
Polar Bear Plunge at the Flora-Bama on New Years Day

Drink
absinthe

Drink
a key lime milkshake at Stacey Old Tyme Soda Fountain in Foley

Drink
champagne from a slipper

Drink
Kopi Luwak

Drive
a ’57 Chevrolet

Drive
a Corvette

Drive
across country from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean

Drive
a Ferrari

Drive
a Jaguar

Drive
a Mercedes

Drive
an Aston Martin

Drive
a Porsche

Drive
a Saab

Drive
a snowmobile

Drive
a vehicle with a right-side steering wheel

Drive
the 3,100 miles of Gulf shoreline between Florida and Mexico

Drive
the entire length of the Natchez Trace Parkway

Drive
the Lincoln Highway from New York to California

Drink
a bottle of wine that’s older than I am

Drink
a Guinness Beer in Dublin, Ireland on St. Patrick’s Day

Drink
a pint in an English pub

Drink
milk from a fresh coconut

Drive Alabama’s
“Civil War Trail”

Drive
from Austin, Texas to Great Falls, Montana

Drive
I-95 from Florida to Maine

Drive
on the German Autobahn

Drive
Route 66 from Chicago to Los Angeles

Drive
the entire length of the Alaska Highway

Drive
the Explorers Highway across Australia

Drive
the Great Ocean Road in southern Australia

Drive
the Pacific Coast Highway in California

Drive
U.S. Highway 31 from Spanish Fort to Mackinaw City, Mich.

Drive
U.S. Highway 61 from New Orleans to Wyoming, Minn.

Earn a
black belt in karate

Earn a
Master’s Degree

Earn
an honorary degree

Eat a
cannoli

Eat a
cheese steak sandwich in Philadelphia

Eat a
ghost chili pepper

Eat a
hot dog from a New Orleans street cart

Eat an
entire Boston cream pie

Eat an
insect

Eat at
a Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse

Eat at
Brenda’s Bar-B-Que Pit in Montgomery

Eat at
Dick Russell’s Famous Bar-B in Mobile

Eat at
Emeril’s Delmonico Restaurant in New Orleans

Eat at
Emily’s Café in Greenville

Eat a tequila
worm

Eat at
every restaurant in Conecuh County at least once

Eat at
every restaurant in Monroe County at least once

Eat at
Ezell’s Fish Camp in Lavaca, Ala.

Eat at
Honey’s Hot Dogs in Dothan

Eat at
Huggin’ Molly’s restaurant in Abbeville

Eat at
Mama Nem’s in Thomaston

Eat at
Momma Goldberg’s in Auburn

Eat
at Roscoe's House of Chicken 'n Waffles in Los Angeles.

Eat at
Sisters restaurant in Troy

Eat at
Tacky Jack’s in Gulf Shores

Eat at
the Battle House Hotel in Mobile

Eat at
the Compleat Angler Seafood Grille & Bar in Orange Beach

Eat at
the Duchess Bakery in Cullman

Eat at
The Grand Marlin restaurant in Pensacola Beach, Fla.

Eat at
the Mountain Parkway Grill in Sand Rock

Eat at
the Tally-Ho restaurant in Selma

Eat at
The Tin Top Restaurant & Oyster Bar in Bon Secour

Eat at
The Victoria in Anniston

Eat at
the Wildflower Café in Mentone

Eat
Baba Ghanoush

Eat caviar

Eat
crawfish pie at Ca-John’s in Faunsdale

Eat
Eggs Benedict

Eat
Escargot

Eat
Foie Gras

Eat
haggis

Eat
kangaroo

Eat
kimchi

Eat
“Oysters Rockefeller”

Eat
penguin meat

Eat
rabbit

Eat
Rocky Mountain oysters

Eat
sardines and crackers

Eat
sautéed grouper at The Rawl’s in Enterprise

Eat
seal meat

Eat
shark

Eat
steak tartare

Eat
turtle soup

Escort
my daughter down the aisle at her wedding

Examine
a crop circle

Experience
an earthquake

Experience
a session in a sensory deprivation tank

Experience
weightlessness

Explore
a creepy tunnel

Explore
the Forbidden City in Beijing

Fast
for three days, drinking nothing but water

Feed a
koala bear

Find
365 geocaches

Find
1,000 geocaches

Find a
four-leaf clover

Find
an arrowhead

Find
the oldest geocache in Alabama

Find
the “Original Stash” geocache in Oregon.

Finish
a newspaper crossword puzzle

Float
in the Dead Sea

Fly an
airplane

Fly at
the speed of sound

Fly
first class

Fly in
a glider

Fly in
an open cockpit airplane

Fly
with the Blue Angels

Geocache
at night

Geocache
for an entire day

Get
10,000 followers on Twitter

Get a
Commercial Driver’s License (CDL)

Get a
manicure

Get a
passport

Get a
pedicure

Get a
tattoo

Go
backpacking in Europe

Go
barefoot for an entire week

Go
clam digging

Golf
18 holes

Go on
a “Bigfoot hunt” in the Pacific Northwest

Go on
a dog-sledding trip

Go on
a ghost tour in Savannah, Ga.

Go on
a humanitarian trip to Africa

Go on
a juice fast

Go on
a mission trip

Go on
an African safari

Go on
an alligator hunt

Go on
an urban exploration trip

Go on
a police ride along

Go on
a real duck hunt

Go on
a volkswalk

Go on
a walkabout in the Australian outback

Go
through a farm-field maze.

Go to
a “Black Friday” sale.

Go to
a midnight showing at a theatre

Go to
a shooting range

Go to
a “turkey shoot”

Go
whale watching.

Grow
my hair out, shoulder-length

Hang
glide

Have a
Halloween bonfire with hot apple cider

Have
washboard abs

Help build
a church

Help
build a Habitat for Humanity home

Help
deliver a baby

Hike a
glacier

Hike a
section of the Appalachian Trail

Hike
Hadrian’s Wall Across the UK

Hike
in Alaska

Hike
the Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge trails

Hike
the Continental Divide Trail

Hike
the entire length of the Eastern Shore Trail

Hike
the Pacific Northwest Trail

Hike
the trails at Chickasabogue Park

Hike
the trails at DeSoto State Park in Fort Payne

Hike
the trails at Gulf State Park

Hike
the trails at Oak Mountain State Park in Pelham

Hike
the trails at Village Point Park in Daphne

Hike
the Walls of Jericho at Hytop

Hike
the Weeks Bay Nature Trail near Fairhope

Hike
to Everest Base Camp

Hike
to the bottom of the Grand Canyon

Hike
to the top of Mount Cheaha

Hold a
bezoar

Hold a
Bowie knife.

Hunt
and find ancient shark teeth

Hunt
and kill a bear

Hunt
and kill a coyote

Hunt
and kill a lion in Tanzania (legal there)

Hunt
and kill an elephant in South Africa (legal there)

Hunt
and kill a wild pig

Hunt
and kill a wild turkey

Hunt
for geese

Hunt
pheasant.

Ice
fish

Install
a home weather station

Interview
someone who claims to have been abducted by aliens

Invent
something and patent it

Join a
disaster relief effort

Join
Masonic Lodge No. 3 in Monroeville, Ala.

Join
the Alabama Archeological Society

Join
the Alabama Bigfoot Society

Join
the American Legion

Join
the Edgar Allan Poe Society of Baltimore

Join
the Knights of St. Andrew

Join
the Monroe County Rescue Squad

Join
the National Rifle Association

Join
the Peacock Family Association of the South

Join
the Sons of the American Revolution

Join
the Veterans of Foreign Wars

Join
the York Rite of Freemasonry

Kayak
the Sepulga River Canoe Trail

Kill a
deer with a bow and arrow

Kill a
deer with a traditional muzzle-loading rifle

Kiss the
Blarney Stone in Ireland

Kite-surf

Launch
a newspaper boat with the kids

Learn
a magic trick

Learn
archery

Learn
Bartitsu

Learn
Krav Maga

Learn
tae kwon do

Learn
to braze

Learn
to cook

Learn
to fly-fish

Learn
to play cribbage

Learn
to play croquet

Learn
to play dominoes

Learn
to play golf

Learn
to kayak

Learn
to play backgammon

Learn
to play poker

Learn
to play the piano

Learn
to ride a motorcycle

Learn
to sail

Learn
to say the alphabet backwards

Learn
to solder

Learn
to speak Arabic

Learn
to speak French

Learn
to speak German

Learn
to speak Russian

Learn
to speak Spanish

Learn
to surf

Lean
to use a sextant

Learn
to whistle with my fingers

Listen
to Bob Dylan’s “Blonde On Blonde”

Listen
to Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the U.S.A.”

Listen
to Bruce Springsteen’s “Born to Run” from start to finish

Listen
to Elvis Presley’s “The Sun Sessions”

Listen
to George Handel’s “Messiah”

Listen
to Guns N’ Roses’ “Appetite For Destruction”

Listen
to Led Zeplin’s “Led Zeplin” album

Listen
to Louis Armstrong’s “West End Blues.”

Listen
to Michael Jackson’s “Thriller”

Listen
to Mozart’s opera, “The Magic Flute”

Listen
to Mozart’s opera, “The Marriage of Figaro.”

Listen
to Robert Johnson’s “The Complete Recordings”

Listen
to Rolling Stone’s ‘500 Greatest Albums of All Time”

Listen
to The Beatles’ “Revolver” album

Listen
to The Clash’s “London Calling”

Listen
to the Jimi Hendrix Experience’s “Are You Experienced”

Listen
to the opera “Carmen” from start to finish

Listen
to the Rolling Stones’ “Exile on Main Street”

Listen
to U2’s “Joshua Tree” album

Live
to see my first grandchild

Live
to see the return of Halley’s Comet in 2062

Log
1,000 total lifetime hiking miles

Look
through an electron microscope.

Look
through the telescope at a major observatory

Make a
candle

Make a
handmade bow and arrows set

Make a
hollow book

Make
an omelet

Make a
shillelagh

Make
homemade wine

Make
soap

Meditate
(for at least an hour)

Meet a
Heisman Trophy winner

Meet
A.J. McCarron

Meet a
Medal of Honor recipient

Meet
an astronaut

Meet a
past President of the United States

Meet
Bear Grylls

Meet
Bill Belichick

Meet
Cynthia Tucker

Meet
David Duchovny

Meet
Eli Gold

Meet
George R.R. Martin

Meet
Harper Lee

Meet
Harrison Ford (Indiana Jones/Han Solo)

Meet
Jason Hawes from “Ghost Hunters.”

Meet
Joe Hill

Meet
Jon Krakauer

Meet
Kyle MacLachlan

Meet
Lou Holtz

Meet
Mike Mignola

Meet
Neil Gaiman

Meet
Neil Young

Meet
Nick Saban

Meet
someone else with my name

Meet
the President of the United States

Meet
Stephen King

Meet
Warren St. John

Meet
Will Clark

Meet
William Shatner

Meet
Zak Bagans of “Ghost Adventures”

Memorize
Abraham Lincoln’s “Gettysburg Address”

Memorize
all the Super Bowl winners

Memorize
all the World Series winners

Memorize
“Do It Now” by Berton Braley

Memorize
Edgar Allan Poe’s poem “The Raven”

Memorize
Hamlet’s soliloquy

Memorize
the books of the Bible

Memorize
the Greek alphabet

Memorize
the Heisman Trophy winners

Memorize
the world capitals

Milk a
cow. Drink the milk.

Mule
ride down the Grand Canyon

Noodle
a catfish

Observe
Andromeda, the most distant object visible to the naked eye

Order
a Martini, “Shaken, not stirred”

Own a
velvet Elvis

Own
season tickets

Paddle
the Coosa River in Ga. to where it joins the Tallapoosa in Ala.